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Show ky Jami Preston The theory that the Department Depart-ment of Justice should have power pow-er to intervene in any private patent pat-ent suit and throw the weight of the parties has been advanced by Wendell Berge, Assistant Attorney General, in testimony at a Congressional Con-gressional hearing on a revolutionary revolu-tionary patent bill. Opponents argue that this would make the position of a patent holder so hazardous that it would discourage the use of the patent system. Mr. Berge's theory ties in with a growing tendency for the Justice Department to seek compliance with its views in exchange for immunity im-munity from further prosecution. This practice has been applied ations which find patent protec-particularly protec-particularly against large corpor-tion corpor-tion of minor importance and who would rather go along than face a battery of government lawyers in a costly suit. Particularly alarming is the fact decried by Mr. Justince Roberts in the glass industry case that the Department has been attempting to make its own patent laws. Fuel has been added to this fire by the Department's requests to manufacturers to submit copies of patent contracts for a probe into in-to company practices. Should the Department suspect violation of the aniti-trust laws it could obtain a court order for such papers. It is now seeking information from the private files of many companies compa-nies without following this constitutional consti-tutional procedure. |